Chinese consumer culture has recently changed due to the growth of China's middle class, the rise of China's cruise market, and the growing interest of Chinese consumers in pursuing luxury experiences. However, research on luxury consumerism has traditionally focused on luxury goods. How luxury value can be created in the experience of consuming luxuries and what the result of producing luxury value may be remains unknown. Considering maritime tourism as a field of research, this study examines the relationships between maritime travel experience, luxury value and loyalty. Two rounds of surveys were conducted in mainland China (N = 1200). The results show a hierarchical structure of the cruise experience, offering a unique perspective compared to conventional research of the tourism experience. In addition, a comparative analysis was performed that included first-time and iterative cruise passengers. These findings also highlight the prominent role of quality perception in its inner feeling in creating consumer loyalty. Therefore, cruise ship passengers seem to make a lot of sense in determining their loyalty.